Tom Grice has signed up to make his car racing debut in the 2011 ELF Renault Clio Cup. The 18 year old will compete for championship-winning outfit Total Control Racing, becoming their third signing ahead of the new campaign.
Grice heads into the saloon car series after a successful karting career. After winning the Kartmasters Rotax Mini Max British Grand Prix in 2005, the Essex-based youngster moved in to European competition, winning two German series in 2007 and 2008, before competing in the CIK-FIA World Championships and Super KF British Championship over the last couple of seasons.
Commenting on his move into car racing, Grice said: “I'm delighted to be driving for TCR in my first season in cars. I've done four test days up to now with the team and so far so good, everything has been getting better and better. I've been working with Jonny Adam (2005 ELF Renault Clio Cup Champion) and he's really helped me to improve.
“Saloons have always been my aim, I really like the style of racing and it's much more achievable to make a career in them than in single-seaters which is all about who has the most money. We've been making great progress in testing so my aim is to be right up at the front from the first round.”
Lee Brookes, team principal of TCR, added: “It's fantastic for us to have completed a deal with Tom, in just a handful of tests he's come on massively and in our most recent outing at Rockingham he was bang on the pace.
“He's still got a lot to learn but we have high hopes he'll be at the sharp end very quickly. It's really important for us to have at least a couple of drivers up there challenging at the front and if Tom continues to improve at the rate he has already, he'll be right there.”
